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Fight for chemical jobs continues

Workers at a threatened Teesside chemical company are travelling to Spain in the fight to save their jobs.

Last week it was announced Artenius UK, which has its headquarters in Redcar, had gone into administration.

The company, which has 242 employees, is a subsidiary of Spanish company La Seda de Barcelona.

Redcar MP Vera Baird is to join 10 workers and union representatives to lobby the owner's shareholders' meeting in Barcelona on Saturday.

Administrator Deloitte announced 137 redundancies last week, but said the company was continuing to trade as bidders were sought.

The redundancies were linked to a separate division of the company's business which had already closed.

Ms Baird will join the workers and officials from trade union Unite at the shareholders' meeting at Barcelona airport.

'Right to work'

They plan to hand out leaflets saying the Teesside plant is profitable.

Ms Baird said: "La Seda's website says that Artenius is old and unprofitable.

"The Spanish shareholders have no way of knowing whether that is true so we will be there to make clear that it isn't and that this workforce demands the right to continue working at this productive plant.

"The shareholders must vote on the restructuring that is leading to the plant's closure and we want them to turn it down because it means the pointless loss of over 200 top quality jobs and the terrible family insecurity that it will bring."

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